surprise!
by Kanetsuki
Summary: Yet another self issued challenge. These are getting more and more random... or are they? Read on, dear reader...


Self issued challenge number three. The noun, adjective and verb all came from flipping through a dictionary randomly. The phrase came from TV (a holiday program was talking about World Vision).  
Feel free to take up the challenge :)

Noun: death adder

Phrase: the big thing is education

Adjective: redolent

Verb: prise

Limit: 250

Series: Lawful Drug

Characters: Kudo Kazahaya, Himura Rikuo

"Sshhh!" a tall, dark haired boy hissed at his companion, who had knocked over something noisy. The fact that they were fumbling around in the dark didn't help, and the other boy was quick to point this out.

"Just keep looking then. And do it quietly."

This was met with mutinous mutterings, but the other boy complied nonetheless.

"Can I see the photo again, Rikuo?" He asked after a minute.

"You can't see anything, by the sound of it." Rikuo replied, handing over the photograph their employer had given them to identify the object he had sent them out to find.

"Shut up! It's dark, damn you." Kazahaya retorted as he snatched the photo out of Rikuo's hand. He held it up to the dark shape in front of him, which happened to be a crate, comparing the two.

"I think this is it." He announced.

"Really?" a soft voice whispered seductively in his ear. Damn that jerk! How did he sneak up behind me so quietly? Kazahaya thought as he jumped away, almost crashing into the crate. Not willing to reply, Kazahaya busied himself with trying to pry the lid of the crate off. Rikuo watched him in amusement.

"Need a hand?" he asked with a smirk.

"I don't need help from _you_."

Although Kazahaya's red cheeks, flushed from his exertion, undermined this statement. Rikuo let him continue for a few more minutes before finally intervening. He reached over the other boy and slid the side of the crate up.

"Huh? Oh." Kazahaya was momentarily defeated by this twist in logic. When he looked inside the crate it was empty, apart from a thin layer of straw and was redolent of something either rotten or long dead.

Make that empty apart from a thin layer of straw and some small, unidentified gizzards.

"Eh? It's empty? Why why _why_ does Kakei-san always send us on such troublesome jobs?" he complained, slumping backwards, forgetting that Rikuo was right behind him. Rikuo rolled his eyes at Kazahaya's usual naiveté and took the opportunity to wrap his arms around the smaller boy, making him jump.

"Get off me!" he all but shouted.

"Quiet!" Rikuo warned. But it was too late for that, as the two boys heard footsteps approaching. They scrabbled in the dark frantically but froze when the light was turned on.

"What are you doing in here?" An irate woman asked.

"Ah… uh…we….we got lost?" Kazahaya supplied unconvincingly.

"Well, you're not allowed in the store room, so I suggest you get back to the presentation room."

They had no choice but to return to the room they had snuck out of in the first place.

"…the big thing is education about these animals." The presenter had almost finished his speech. Ignoring the interruption, he bent down to pick up something from a glass case on the table beside him. Kazahaya watched in horror as the presenter held up a living, moving snake.

"This baby has just been milked for venom, so any bite she's going to give will be pretty harmless, although it will be painful." He commentated as the snake wound its way around him. "But that's all for the reptile talk, so enjoy the rest of your day at the zoo." The nasty staff member that had discovered Rikuo and Kazahaya in the storeroom lifted up a crate for the snake to be put back into.

"That's—" Kazahaya gasped as he read the side of the crate which they couldn't see in the dark storeroom.

"Kakei sent us to get him a Death Adder. _Why_ do you always agree to do these jobs without question?" Rikuo sighed heavily.

"I didn't know he'd be sending us to get a SNAKE!" the fairer boy exclaimed. "How could he ask us to get him a poisonous snake!" he moaned.

"Is little Kaza-chan afraid of a little snake?" Rikuo teased him. "Didn't you listen to that guy? It's been de-venomed for the day."

"That's not the point!"

"You'd rather come back and tell Kakei you couldn't complete the assignment?"

Kazahaya was speechless as he contemplated his two choices with dread.

"Alright, alright! Fine. But I'm not touching it."

-- -- --

"Why did _I_ have to carry the snake!" Kazahaya demanded, flopping onto his bed.

"Relax. You got paid, didn't you?" Rikuo replied walking over.

"That's not—"

"the point?" Rikuo smirked and mischievously ran his fingers over Kazahaya's neck, imitating the snake the poor boy had had to carry.

"Ah!" Kazahaya jumped a metre in the air. "Teme! You bastard!" He yelled.


End file.
